Line of Control

Love Thy Neighbour, Jesus Christ said. He also advised that one must show the other cheek when slapped on one. I wonder if he would consider changing these statements after what Pakistani soldiers have done to our jawans.

Two of our jawans – Lance Naik Hemraj Singh and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh were mutilated and killed (Lance Naik Hemraj Singh was beheaded!) by Pakistani soldiers. Although, the Pakistani foreign minister claims that India is war mongering, there is history as well as evidence to show that there was no provocation to warrant such a barbaric act.

Is there a single strong tooth in this Government? No one in India is going to cast their votes for another Government if the present Govt takes up this issue with Pakistan. Why are they still playing vote bank politics? What is the whole point of drawing a Line of Control if one nation concerned doesn’t want to adhere to it? This isn’t time to sit and talk about Indo – Pak relations. We need to retaliate, and swiftly at that!!

Someone told me that we are not fighting back only because of our basic non-violent attitude. Blame Mahatma Gandhi! Well, Gandhi advocated non-violence so that we don’t have to go through bloodshed to win independence. He never dictated rules for conducting wars! We are already at logger heads with Pakistan, especially at LOC. Beyond a limit, tolerance becomes foolishness. Gandhi never asked us to be foolish. By not retaliating against this brutal act, we are letting ourselves down. We are actually insulting our ethics – including non-violence! Among those who have successfully conducted wars for India are Gandhians –Nehru, Shastri, Vajpayee…. These are people who showed the other cheek during our struggle for freedom.

Pakistan’s attitude isn’t surprising, it is very evident after 26/11 that they are innovating ways to attack India. As usual, our Government is responding to these attacks – there are meaningless statements, condemning and some grievance; there are strikes in several parts of the country, there are empty promises made to the victim’s families…. This isn’t surprising either. The media is holding countless hollow discussions – which also is a regular feature. Editorials saying India shouldn’t let this ‘incident’ spoil the relation with Pakistan are now the order of the day. I don’t understand how they can call this barbarism as an ‘incident’. I also don’t follow what relation they need with Pakistan. Didn’t they ask for a separate nation because they didn’t want to be related to us? Trying to maintain a relationship with Pakistan is as good as trying to date Voldermort. I would rather not do that.

What can actually change this? Only a strong Government at the Centre can respond to situations like this with the aggression that it deserves. We need an electrifying leader who knows the difference between aggression and revenge. We need a Prime Minister who is equipped to do the tasks that the office demands. We need Narendra Modi for PM.

Many people reject Modi as a potential PM candidate citing secular reasons. He is, in my opinion, far more secular than the UPA. People of all religions have prospered under his regime spanning more than a decade. In fact, in this scenario, secularism doesn’t matter at all. All that matters is patriotism, the country’s self-respect and value for human life!

During the Gujarat elections, the media seemed surprised as to how people could vote for Modi, despite Post-Godhra riots. When people said that it is a sign that they wanted to move on, there were questions as to what the phrase ‘moving on’ meant. Despite 26/11, when India can say OK for a bilateral cricket series with Pakistan, when the Centre can still say they want to sit and talk with Pakistan after this cruel incident, why wouldn’t the people of Gujarat vote for Modi against whom nothing has been proved?

He needs to move on, from Gujarat to New Delhi, for the sake of the people of our country. His line of control needs to turn into a sphere spanning the entire nation.